


Don’t get used to it, sparky.

by sarah_x



Category: Generation X (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Sorry the kids kind of take a backseat to Jubilee/Jono, They still have a few moments tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-20 01:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12421809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarah_x/pseuds/sarah_x
Summary: Jubilee and Chamber take the kids to New York state fair and wonder just when their lives got so crazy.





	Don’t get used to it, sparky.

Jono twirled a cigarette between his fingers. It was a vice that could no longer affect him physically, but he still found its presence addictive nonetheless. When he’d been a student under Emma and Sean, he’d sit out on the porch until midnight with Angelo while the other man smoked, letting the cigarette smoulder down to its stub. After Angelo’s death, he’d tried to keep up with the tradition. Nowadays he kept much more unsociable hours and there weren’t many X-Men willing to wait up with him.

Sunlight was peeking out from over the horizon and Jono checked his watch, rubbing tiredness from his eyes. _Five A.M_., he thought, _fantastic_. He’d always been a chronic insomniac. Back at the Massachusetts Academy, oddly enough, he’d found it almost impossible to sleep without the sound of traffic. He’d gotten used to the hustle and bustle of East London: endless rain, the drone of construction equipment, people rushing around and talking loudly, buses and binmen coming and going. It was a similar issue with Xavier’s Institute, the school he now taught at, though at least Xavier’s was close to a big city New York.

“Boo.”

His brain formed the thought, “ _Christ!_ ” Jono flinched when he heard the other person’s voice. He spun around, glanced up at Jubilee who was hovering on the step behind him. She was clutching her head like it hurt. “ _Jesus, Lee, you scared the shit out of me_.”

“Little loud, sparky.” Jubilee pointed to her temple, eyebrows knitted into a frown but offering a small smile nonetheless.

He imagined the word, “ _Sorry_.” followed by, _“But you deserved that.”_

She plopped down beside him on the porch and whacked his arm lightly, “Not my fault you’re so oblivious. Those sessions in the Danger Grotto with Monet and the others teach you nothing?”

Jono wanted to point out the irony of Jubilee calling _him_ oblivious, instead he replied, _“Not my fault you keep sneaking up on me with your freaky vampire stealth.”_

Jubilee winced a little at his comment and Jono wondered for a moment if he’d overstepped. She recovered quickly, flashing him a smile, fangs and all. She put on a goofy Transylvanian accent, “I _vant_ to drink your blood!”

She grinned devilishly, tugging him closer by his jacket, leaning into his bandaged throat with teeth bared. He felt the energy inside his chest shift restlessly but he wasn’t sure whether he was reacting to her closeness as a threat or something else entirely. He put a hand on her chest and poked her away. _“Don’t even think about it, firecracker.”_

Jubilee came away laughing. He liked to see her happy and smiling. He knew it was something she found more difficult now considering her new… _circumstances._ He couldn’t laugh anymore, which was another little thing that would always plague him about the price of his powers, but he let a warm, happy feeling wash over him and tried to project it into Jubilee’s mind. He wasn’t sure that was how his telepathy worked but he liked to think she could feel how much he appreciated her presence.

Her giggling died down enough for her to say, “How are you feeling?”

 _“Like I need a hot shower and to spend the rest of the day in bed,”_ He thought, _“Why do you ask?”_

“Well, I was thinking with it being a Saturday,” Jubilee started, scuffing one of her boots against the ground, “And Kitty jetting off to god knows where along with pretty much all the faculty, we could give the kids a chance to stretch their legs.”

_“What do you have in mind?”_

She hesitated for a moment, “Hear me out, OK, but I was hoping we could go to the State Fair… I, uh, I already bought the tickets.”

Jono raised a brow, _“You sure that’s a good idea, luv?”_

“Come oooooooon, Jono,” Jubilee replied, voice high and whiny, “The kids have been cooped up all summer because of M and her horrible brother. Most of them don’t even go home for the summer so they’ve probably been going out of their minds with boredom!”

_“I think you’re underestimating the power of the X-Box and the Internet.”_

“Maybe,” Jubilee continued, “But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get out of the mansion every so often. You know, show their faces to the outside world. Remind people mutants aren’t so different from them after all. Call it part of their _real-world practical application training,_ or whatever.”

 _“You really think the best thing for those kids,”_ He jerked his thumb behind him to the entrance of the school, _“Is to force them to get up early on a Saturday so they can get ogled at by the public?”_

Jubilee was scowling at him and not in her usual, teasing way. “Go get your shower, Jono, before the kids use up all the hot water again,” She turned to leave. “Doop said he’d watch Shogo. I’ll go wake the kids up.”

_“Lee, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”_

“We leave at eight.”

* * *

Jubilee’s proposal of a school trip was met by mixed reactions of excitement and whininess. In fairness, the whininess was almost exclusively dominated by Quentin Quire who complained from the moment he’d been pulled out of bed until the point where Jono was counting heads as the student piled into the minivan. Their little party consisted of Jubilee’s class: Quentin, Trevor, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Lin and Roxy as well as some of Jono’s class, Anole, Glob and a few others.

“You got us up before noon to go look at some farmyard animals,” Quentin droned, yawning loudly and stretching his arms behind his head. “I thought we’d _at least_ get a _mission_. Like the Purifiers on Nathaniel’s first day.”

Quentin kicked the back of Nathaniel’s seat. Benjamin, who was sat next to him, frowned at Quentin and gave him a quick shake of the head. Nathaniel turned and glared at him, “Shut up, Quentin.”

“Surprisingly enough not even X-Force wants to give you a mission, Quentin,” Jubilee cut in, standing at the front of the bus with her arms folded. “I wonder why that could be.”

“Because I’m too good for those assholes?”

Jubilee chose to ignore him and turned her attention back to the group of students. Jono had slipped into the driver’s seat and was watching her address the students, one arm leaning on the back of the chair and legs spilling out into the aisle. “Here’s the deal, kids. We’re going to set off for the fair now so we should probably get there by nine-ish. Chamber and I won’t be hovering over you the whole time. You can do your own thing but you must always have someone with you. I’m going to give you guys my number so if there are any problems, you can reach us. If not, the plan is to meet up by the swing ride for 5PM sharp so everyone can get back for curfew. Understood? Good. Any questions?”

Quentin piped up, “What if we don’t want to go?”

Jubilee glared at him for a long moment, then said, “Too bad.”

Jubilee sat down and Jono slipped a _Sex Pistols_ CD into the stereo. He caught Jubilee’s eye and a wicked grin crept across her face. _Anarky in the U.K._ blasted through the minivan’s tinny speakers.

 _“I AM AN ANTICHRIST! I AM AN ANCHARIST!_ _DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT, BUT I KNOW HOW TO GET IT! I WANT TO DE-STROY PASSER-BY!”_

The students let out a collective groan, clutching their ears.

“Please,” Trevor begged, “Please, make it _stop._ ”

“See!” Jubilee shouted over the top of the music, voice barely containing her amusement, “There are worse things in life than some farmyard animals.”

* * *

Jono noticed that they were already drawing attention almost as soon as they stepped off the minivan. It was difficult to hide a seven-foot-tall see-through boy, a child with antlers and a child with multiple eyes. Families who strolled past them quickly picked up their pace, ushering their children away.

The line was fast-moving until it reached their group. Suddenly, there were all kinds of problems with their tickets and the admission staff questioned them like they were being held under police interrogation. After about half an hour and some threats from Jubilee and Jono, the group were finally allowed to pass through the turnstiles and into the fair.

A little girl with kinky hair passed the group, pointing at Roxy, “Mommy, look at that lady! She’s purple!”

Roxy tried to wave at the girl but the girl’s mother pulled her away from the mutants, shooting Jono and the rest of them a dirty look.

Jono noticed Jubilee’s hands balling into fists and he put his hand on her shoulder, giving her a light squeeze, _“Let it go, luv. She’s not worth it.”_

The other children seemed to echo Jono’s sentiment, save for Quentin, who bit out a contemptuous, “ _Humans_.”

Jubilee relaxed against his touch and turned back to the group. “Listen, we’re not gunna let some stupid bigots ruin our day. We’re here to have fun, OK? So, let’s have fun.”

“Hey, Ben,” Nathaniel said, taking the other boy by the forearm and tugging him in the direction of one of the rides, “Want to go on the carousel?”

Benjamin’s eyes lit up, “Sure!”

“I guess the carousel is okay,” Quentin said, placing a hand on Benjamin’s shoulder, “I guess.”

Nathaniel threw up a middle finger at Quentin and pulled Benjamin away from him, “Get lost, Quentin.”

“Fine!” The boy replied, suddenly defensive. “As if I want to hang out with you shitheads anyway! Me and-” He searched the group, then pointed at Glob, “Me and Glob are going to have a ton of fun on the bumper cars!”

“Well, uh, actually, Quentin, I kind of wanted to get a hotdog and-”

Quentin pushed Glob away from the group, ignoring his words. “Come on, Glob!”

Roxy rolled her eyes and glanced at Lin, then Trevor. “You guys want to go look at the pigs?”

“I love pigs!” Lin exclaimed, clapping her hands together like a seal. “They have so many fascinating things to say about the world.”

“Sure, why not.” Trevor said, smiling fondly at Lin’s reaction.

“You guys mind if I tag along?” Anole asked.

Roxy jerked her head in the direction of the pigs. “The more the merrier.”

As the small group disappeared in the direction of the farm animals, Jubilee let out a sigh of relief then turned to Jono, “Guess that just leaves you and me, sparky.”

It was moments like this, seeing Jubilee’s own weary, strained smile beaming up at him, that he wished he could return the smile with his own. He settled for letting the energy in his chest bubble up against the bandages, giving off a warm glow. He hoped she’d get the message. His thoughts formed the words,  _“Guess so.”_

He offered her his arm and she slipped hers around his elbow, “Such a gentleman.”

_“Oh, I don’t know about that.”_

They wandered in no particular direction. Jono just enjoyed being alone with Jubilee. She was a lot shorter than he was. When she leaned into him, her head buried into the side of his jacket. After walking a few paces, she moved her arm out from underneath his, wrapping it around his waist instead. His heart, what was left of it, fluttered and he stole a look down at her. She wasn’t looking back at him. Her eyes searched the fairground, as if deliberately avoiding his gaze. They strolled on a little more and, after hesitating over and over, he let his now free arm dangle loosely across her shoulders.

Jubilee paused beside a cotton candy cart, making Jono come to a stop with her. She stared at it longingly as the vendor handed a stick of pink cotton candy to a hopeful little boy. “Hey, do you want to get some?”

Jono pointed to his bandages,  _“Kind of hard to eat cotton candy when I’ve got no mouth, ya pillock.”_

Jubilee elbowed him sharply in the side and he flinched off her. “And anything that isn’t blood just tastes bland now,” Jubilee mumbled, voice full of sadness. “We suck.”

_“Technically only you suck.”_

“Funny guy,” Jubilee replied, voice deadpan. “Anyways, considering we’re both the worst, what can we do to take our minds off our depressing lives?”

Jono’s eyes scanned the fairground. There was a lengthy queue for one of the pendulum rides and even if he couldn’t throw up anymore, he didn’t feel like walking around sick to his stomach for the rest of the day. Some poor teenage boy was having his face painted, a young girl giggling furiously as he shifted around uncomfortably in his seat. Again, face painting was out of the question.

_“Over there.”_

He pointed in the direction of a tin can alley. Jubilee gave Jono a wild look, then without warning took off sprinting in the direction of the stall, barely dodging a gaggle of kids that ran past her. Jono shook his head and jogged over to her.

A fresh-faced young guy manned the stall. When he saw them, he regarded them curiously at first. His eyes were drawn to the ‘X’ patches on their jackets and his curiosity quickly turned to nervousness. “Uh, h-hello there.”

“Morning, buster,” Jubilee replied, flashing him a toothy grin. “Can we play?”

The boy looked like he wanted to say no but he managed to stammer out a, “Sure.”

_“What are the rules?”_

The boy’s head whipped around, staring at Jono with a panicked expression. Most people were unaccustomed to some talking in their head, so Jono gave him some time to recover from his shock.

“It’s, uh, it’s – sorry,” The boy wiped sweat off his brow and tried to compose himself. He gestured to three neat pyramids of tin cans. “You’ve gotta knock down the w-whole pyramid of cans for the big prizes, b-but if you knock down a-a few then you get a smaller prize. It’s $5 for t-three balls so y-you get three tries to knock the pyramids down. Y-you can pay for more balls, though.”

 _“I never thought someone would ask me if I wanted to pay for more balls.”_ He turned to Jubilee, hoping he could get a laugh out of her, but he quickly realized the other guy could hear him as well. The stall worker’s cheeks reddened and Jubilee bit her lip to stop a smile. Jono wanted to sink into the floor.

He dug around in his pocket and fished out some money to pay the worker, who took it from Jono as if he was diseased. He picked up the first ball, tossed it in the air a few times, warming up.

“You going to show off all day?” Jubilee goaded. “Or are you actually going to throw that thing?”

_“Watch and learn.”_

He threw the ball with as much force as he could muster, but it missed its target, careening upwards and knocking the edge of the top can but not knocking it over. He could feel Jubilee smirking at him before he saw her doing so.

“Wow, Starsmore. You throw like a girl.”

_“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”_

“Fine, you throw like a nerd,” Jubilee said. “Now step aside.”

Jubilee picked up a ball off the counter and the worker tensed as if he thought Jubilee might attack him. She posed with the ball like a pitcher about to start off a big baseball game. She wound her arm around a few times, then let the ball fly. Not only did it connect with the pyramid, sending the cans tumbling, the ball shot out the back of kiosk like a bullet, ripping a hole in the fabric wall and disappearing off into the distance. Jono and the boy stared in stunned silence. Other fair attendees had momentarily paused what they were doing, regarding Jubilee with both astonishment and disgust.

“Does this mean I win a toy or…?” Jubilee ventured.

“Please, just pick something and leave, OK?”

Jubilee’s face scrunched up into a frown and she took an extra-long time browsing the prizes on offer. She finally pointed at a huge plush Gambit toy dangling from the stall. “That one, please.”

The man moved to release the toy but Jono was closer and tall enough to unhook it. He gave the man a quick shake of the head, _“It’s okay, mate, I’ve got it.”_

He handed Jubilee the toy and she hugged it against her chest, “Why, thank you, _mon chéri_ ,” She said, putting on Gambit’s distinctive Cajun accent, “Keep playing your cards right and you might even get a kiss.”

He felt the energy in his chest tighten up, until it was almost painful, and he stumbled in his tracks. If Jubilee noticed, she didn’t mention it. She skipped over to a picnic bench stationed beside some food vendors. She sat the Gambit toy down next to her, leaning her elbow on its head. Jono clambered down opposite her. She looked longingly at a man shovelling fries into his mouth and let out a sigh, “I miss chili fries.” 

 _“Listen, Lee, about earlier…”_ Jono had been dwelling on their encounter earlier that morning. He didn’t want any unspoken resentment between them.

“You mean the can toss?” Jubilee said, drawing her attention away from thoughts of fries. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Jono, I was just having some fun.”

 _“No, it’s not that, silly,”_ He continued, _“When I challenged you on the fair, I’m sorry if it came off like I was undermining you-”_

Jubilee held up a hand as if to shush him, even though he was speaking telepathically, “Oh, that stupid thing. No, you were right. We saw it when we first got here, people staring and being nasty shits. I shouldn’t have forced the kids to come. I shouldn’t have forced _you_ to come.”

 _“You didn’t force me,”_ Jono cut in quickly, _“I’m having a great time, luv. Truth is… I like spending time with you. Alone, ya know, outside of the school.”_

Jubilee searched his eyes as if she thought he was lying, “You do?”

Jono couldn’t help rolling his eyes at her obliviousness. He’d been dropping hints for _weeks. “Yeah, I do. It’s been years since we graduated from Emma and Sean and I feel like I’m only just getting to know you now. Angelo and Everett are dead. Paige is in the wind. Monet is nuts right now. Sometimes-”_

He reached across the table tentatively, found her hand resting there. He covered her hand with his. She reacted almost immediately, fingers wrapping tightly around his own. Her eyes were soft and engaged, no hint of predator lurking in them, “ _Sometimes it feels like you’re the only person I have left.”_

They stared at each other like they were seeing each other, really seeing each other, for the first time. The background din of children screaming, the whir of rollercoasters, the flash of lights from games, all of it faded into the background. They were silent as they held each other and that was enough. This was their moment.

Jubilee opened her mouth to speak but before she could, her eyes looked up and behind Jono, just before someone careened into the back of him.

“Professors! Professors!” Trevor was yelling in-between gulps of air, “You need to come with me, right now! Lin and the others are in danger!”

Jubilee cocked her head to one side, as if listening to something off in the distance. Without notice, she shot off in the direction Trevor had come in, moving in a blur of motion before Jono’s thoughts had the time to form, _“Lee!”_ in her mind.

He turned to Trevor, _“Take this,”_ He flung the Gambit toy into Trevor’s arms and bolted after Jubilee. Trevor followed behind, eyes glancing between the toy and Chamber.

He ran madly across the fairground and tried to avoid pushing people out of his path. This was exactly what Jono had been afraid of. His mind raced with possibilities: _sentinels, purifiers, sodding Magneto._ The energy in his chest bubbled up, pressure pushing against the bandages, ready to be fired. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Jono and Trevor were met by a dense crowd of people. _Bingo._ Even from the back, he could hear yelling, voices that sounded familiar. He elbowed his way to the front of the crowd.

Glob was face down on the ground, unmoving, some of the other students trying rouse him. Lin was trembling on the side-lines, nose bloodied, clutching a Pomeranian in her arms. Jono’s attention was drawn to Jubilee who had lifted a two-hundred-pound man off the floor and was holding him by the throat.

“Apologize.” She hissed.

“F-Fuck you,” The man shrieked back, “Bitch stole my dog!”

“He was hurting her,” Lin replied meekly, pulling the dog closer against her chest. “I saw him kick her.”

_“Lee.”_

“Back off, Jono!” Jubilee’s head snapped around to glare at him and he saw her eyes had turned a deep, rich red. “Let me deal with this!”

Jubilee turned to the man and shook him. “Apologize!”

“Kill him, Jubilee!” Quentin goaded.

The man in her grip spat at her. The crowd let out a collective gasp of shock. The corners of his mouth where the bandages stopped burned painfully. His hands balled into fists. The kids were reacting too. Benjamin’s skin shimmered, mimicking Jubilee’s own vampiric form.

Jono forced himself to calm down. Getting angry would only aggravate the situation. He knew whose side the crowd would take if things went south for them. Jubilee’s grip on the man tightened and he let out a choked yelp. Jono let his hand rest on Jubilee’s shoulder, a small but persistent presence.

 _“This isn’t who you are, Lee,”_ She didn’t turn to look at him, but the pressure around the man’s throat relaxed a little. _“Lord knows this wanker deserves what you can give him but he’s not worth it, firecracker. Think about the kids. Think about Shogo. Who’s going to look after them if…?”_

He didn’t finish his thoughts. He couldn’t bare even entertain the idea of a world without Jubilation Lee.

Jubilee’s arm trembled. She let out a yell and threw the man to the ground. The man staggered to his feet, glaring at the group. He looked like the type stupid enough to go another round with them but the collective might of a dozen mutants had him retreating with his tail between his legs. Lin kept a tight grip on the little dog who licked her face appreciatively.

Jubilee wiped the spit off her face with her sleeve, tears coming away, too. “Thanks, Jono.”

“ _C’mere.”_

He wrapped his arms around her and she tackled him into a hug, head burying into his jacket and bandages. The energy pulsing in him, once white-hot and desperate to escape, turned into a warm, honeyed glow against her small frame, like a fireplace at Christmas.

An elderly security guard stepped forward and cleared his throat, “I think you folks should hit the road,” He said, voice sympathetic. “Someone’s called the cops.”

“Ugh,” Quentin piped up from the back, “ _Finally._ ”

* * *

The ride home was long and quiet, marred by the events of the morning. Jono left the stereo untouched, punk CDs standing like sentries. He stole a look at Jubilee a few times but she was staring out the window of the minivan, thoughts elsewhere.

When they got back to the school, it was evident that their story was already spreading across the local news. They’d managed to escape before the camera crews had rolled in but Jono winced as he saw headlines about a “mutant incident” flashing up on the TV.

The Blackbird touched down not long after. Jono helped limp a few injured X-Men to the medbay, then he and Jubilee were pulled aside for separate lectures by Kitty Pryde. It was strange having Kitty tell him off, considering she was his elder by only a few years at most. He just nodded and agreed to run anymore impromptu trips by her next time.

He spent the rest of his Saturday out in the quad, mulling over the fairground trip and twirling a cigarette between his fingers. He thought about Jubilee, thought about how she’d braced against him not once but twice. He thought about how he’d felt when he’d been worried about losing her.

“Boo.”

She didn’t sneak up on him this time, he’d seen her coming across the grassy quad. The Gambit toy from the fair hung loosely from her fingers. “Mind if I join the brooding?”

_“Be my guest.”_

She sat down beside him on the bench, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He crossed his legs, moving his arms off the back of the bench and letting them rest beside him. Jubilee hugged the Gambit toy against her chest, slouching on the bench and letting her head rest on top of the toy, “Kitty chew you out as well, huh?”

He flicked his cigarette into a nearby trashcan, _“Yeah.”_

“I’m sorry, Jono,” Jubilee sighed. “It wasn’t your fault. It was my stupid idea to even go to that dumb fair in the first place.”

 _“It wasn’t a stupid idea,”_ He knocked her shoulder lightly with his fist. _“I had a great time, luv. Before, you know, you vamped out on us.”_

“Yeah, vamping out is a sure-fire way to ruin a date.”

Jono had to do a double take. By the look on Jubilee’s face, she’d just realized what she’d said, but didn’t move to correct herself. The statement hung between them for a while.

Finally, Jono let amusement fill his thoughts as he broadcasted, _“So your school trip was just a sneaky way of asking me out?”_

“No!” Jubilee said defensively, shoving him. “Like I’d date a nerd like you.”

_“I don’t know, I think you like me.”_

She stuck her tongue out at him, “Screw you, mouthless.”

_“You like me, you like me, you like-”_

His thoughts died when she leaned into his space and kissed him over the bandages. His energy reacted to her, twisting and turning, restless as ocean waves. It was a kiss that lingered, staying with him even after she broke it. He’d felt her lips, felt _her_ , against his bandages, something he’d thought impossible. He’d never experienced anything like that, not with Paige, not with anyone who’d kissed him after the explosion.

“Maybe I do like you,” Jubilee said with a shrug, eyes glowing softly in the evening light. “But you’re still a nerd.”

She leaned against his shoulder. He put his arm around her, thinking, _“Coming from you, that’s a compliment.”_

“Don’t get used to it, sparky.”


End file.
